Bad News Bitcoin

Yesterday, China’s top state planners proposed banning all cryptocurrency mining operations in the country. As the South China Morning Post notes, China is host to some of the world’s biggest mining farms, meaning this could be a serious shakeup.

The backstory: In China’s interior, where you can get coal and hydropower on the cheap, mammoth crypto miners have set up shop and become sizable polluters.

• Why? Crypto mining is a very energy-intensive process. The World Economic Forum says that in 2020, bitcoin mining could consume as much power as the world uses today.

If China follows through with the regulatory crackdown, it’d be a win for the planet, but an L for China’s massive bitcoin mining market, which reportedly represents 74% of the world’s total.

+ On the other end of the world, Montana’s Missoula County unanimously approved a resolution that requires new crypto mining to be offset by funding or building renewable energy projects. It's an interesting proposal, but I’d still wager China’s ultimate decision will have a bigger impact.